ABSTRACT

Mrs. Gaskell (Elizabeth Cleghorn, Gaskell, 1810-1865), a famous British novelist, enjoyed equal popularity with the Bronte Sisters and George Eliot during her lifetime. Most of her works were created to show the lives of working people at the lowest level of the social ladder and her sympathy to them. As the first novel of Mrs. Gaskell, Mary Barton depicts the poor lives of lower-class workers and the increasingly intense labour-capital relationship in Great Britain during the Great Depression in the nineteenth century. By analysing the humanistic thought reflected in Mary Barton, this paper attempts to discuss the contradiction between the labour and capital parties, ecological Marxism, feminism and ethical concern in the work. It concludes that Mrs. Gaskell tried hard to remind people not to pay too much attention to economic interests and ignore basic humane care.

Keywords：Mary Barton; Mrs. Gaskell; Industrial Revolution in Great Britain; labor and capital

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

ABSTRACT

摘要

Chapter One INTRODUCTION-1

  1.1 A Brief Introduction of Mrs. Gaskell-2

  1.2 Significance of the Study-2

  1.3 Structure of the Thesis-3

Chapter Two LITERATURE REVIEW-4

  2.1 Domestic Researches on Mrs.Gaskell-4

  2.2 Foreign Researches on Mrs. Gaskell-5

Chapter Three HUMANISTIC THOUGHT IN MARY BARTON-6

  3.1 Criticism of Class Oppression-6

  3.2 Criticism of Destruction of Nature-8

  3.3 Criticism of Patriarchal Society-9

  3.4 Advocation of Caring Ethics-11

Chapter Four MRS.GASKELll'S FORMATION OF HUMANISTIC THOUGHT.-13

  4.1 Life Experience and Social Background-13

  4.2 Mrs.Gaskell’s Humanism-14

Chapter Five CONCLUSION-15

WORKS CITED-17